


Count My Stars

by Colourofsaying



Category: Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Patricia Wrede
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 07:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16237205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colourofsaying/pseuds/Colourofsaying
Summary: Cimorene comes to see Morwen after the events of Talking to Dragons. She needs some advice: how do you handle your marriage, when you've spent sixteen years apart?





	Count My Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [girlmarauders](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlmarauders/gifts).



Morwen tipped the tea leaves into the compost, then stepped back, hands on her hips. As the leaves fell, they’d spelled out “Visitor coming.” Which was too bad, because she’d been planning to train the climbing fireflowers this morning, and then maybe get on with pruning her apple tree. Unless it was someone important, she’d just have to tell them to go away.

“It’s Cimorene,” said Fiddlesticks, jumping onto her shoulder. “She probably won’t go away.”

“She knows I wouldn’t tell her to,” said Morwen. “Unless it was  _very_ foolish, and you can trust Cimorene not to be that. I’ll set the kettle on.”

She left the door open behind her for Cimorene. She figured it was about time someone did.

* * *

“How did you manage?” Cimorene asked, cradling a cup of tea in her hands. Morwen took a sip of hers - clean, astringent, the fragrance of it soothing.

“Manage what?” she said. She thought she knew, but a witch never gave an answer to an unclear question. It helped no one if you were wrong, and could set a great many things awry.

“Telemain. When he came back to the Enchanted Forest,” Cimorene said. Her fingers on the mug--the thickest, most durable one Morwen owned--were tight. Morwen frowned.

“Well, it wasn’t easy, not at first. We’d known each other very well, once, but he’d had his life, and I’d had mine.”

“With us,” Jasmine put in, purring gently beside Cimorene.

“With  _me_ ,” said Fiddlesticks, jumping slowly and heavily into Morwen’s lap. He walked in a circle, then curled up in her lap.

“And I had the cats, of course,” Morwen acknowledged. “It’s not the same thing, really, but it’s less different than not having them.”

“And then he came back,” Cimorene said.

“And then he came back. Just the same as he ever was. But also completely different.” Morwen thought about it for a moment. “You don’t have the same history anymore, except for where you do. So things worked, and then they didn’t. I imagine it’s harder for Mendanbar, in some ways.”

“He didn’t have much of a life in there at all, did he?” Cimorene sighed. She ran a hand down Jasmine’s back. “Usually I’m horrified about that.”

“Except when you’re not?”

“Except when I’m not,” Cimorene agreed. “He wasn’t there when Daystar was born, you know. He wasn’t there - Morwen, he  _wasn’t there_. He never changed a single diaper. He never stepped on a wooden dragon, or stayed up all night worrying about him. And half the time I’m sick that he missed it, that he missed  _us_ , and the other half, I am  _furious_. Even though there was nothing he could do about it and it’s completely ridiculous.”

“Well, he didn’t  _have_ to get trapped by the wizards,” Morwen pointed out sensibly. “It was a very foolish thing to do.”

“It’s not like he was  _trying_ ,” Cimorene snapped.

Morwen raised her eyebrow. Cimorene sighed.

“Sorry. It’s just--sixteen years, and the King of the Enchanted Forest couldn’t figure out how to get himself out of a magic bubble?”

“There’s not much a king can do about a magic bubble, and there’s not much a King of the Enchanted Forest can do when it stops being the Enchanted Forest,” Morwen told her firmly. “But you know that. And you already melted all the wizards.”

“I did,” Cimorene said, smugly. “Thoroughly.”

She turned the cup in her hands. They sat quietly for a little while, listening to the cats purr and the bees hum in the garden. It was getting on towards autumn, and soon even Morwen’s garden would go to sleep for the winter.

“When Telemain left,” Morwen said, eventually, “I was not happy with him. He chose to go, of course. And he did need to. He needed to leave to find things out and become who he wanted to be. And I needed to stop leaving, for much the same reason. So I stayed. And he left.”

She looked up at Cimorene.

“It’s possible,” Morwen admitted, “that I may have purchased a ‘Return to Sender’ stamp. It was not one of my more mature moments.”

Cimorene laughed. When she stopped, she held herself a little easier.

“And after a while, they stopped coming,” Morwen went on, a little reluctantly. “And then the magic mirror told me he’d stopped calling. And then I didn’t see him again until you dropped him on my doorstep.”

“He forgave you?”

“He laughed at me,” Morwen sniffed. “When I told him.”

She hadn’t been the girl who bought the stamp for a very long time, after all, and these days everyone saw her as practical and calm, and she  _liked_ that. But a witch isn’t a witch unless she faces unpleasant facts, and a witch with a sign on her gate saying “None of this nonsense, please,” has to face them faster than most. So he’d only been back in the Enchanted Forest for a couple of weeks before she’d told him.

“He laughed at you?” Cimorene said. “ _Telemain_ laughed at you?”

“He did. And then I could laugh at myself,” Morwen said. “He’s always been very good at that. It’s one of his best skills, besides finding out how to melt wizards more effectively.”

Although it had stung a little to realize that he’d thought the “Return to Sender” stamps were  _genuine_ , even though she’d meant them to look as real as possible in the first place. He’d missed half the scorn of her gesture--he’d only thought she’d moved away and not told him.

“It hurt more to realize that he’d, well, forgotten to keep looking,” Morwen said. “Which is very Telemain, but to be told that he thought I’d simply broken my magic mirror and not replaced it was disheartening. One likes one’s pettiness to be appreciated when one stoops to it.”

“I never stopped looking,” Cimorene said.

“No, you didn’t,” Morwen told her. “And I doubt Mendanbar likes that that makes him happy. He should wish that you’d moved on, you know. Sixteen years is a very long time.”

“I never would,” Cimorene said. “He should know that.”

“No,” Morwen said gently. “And neither would he. He held on to himself for sixteen years, because he knew you’d be there at the end of it.”

She’d had nightmares about it--about Mendanbar, inside a spell inside a bubble, aware, vaguely, of time passing. Or perhaps, not aware. He hadn’t said much about it. He hadn’t come by, come to think of it, though she didn’t doubt he would eventually. People usually did.

They were quiet again. A light wind had picked up, and the chimes at the end of the garden were blowing, which meant they’d have a little rain soon. Though she’d noticed the wind before the chimes, which meant the spell on the chimes needed renewing.

“You two might want to go out before it gets wet,” she said to Jasmine and Fiddlesticks.

“No,” said Fiddlesticks, without opening his eyes. Jasmine opened her eyes and looked at her for a long moment, then closed them again.

“It’s like he’s a stranger,” Cimorene said. “After all that, I thought it would feel like coming home.”

“But it doesn’t,” Morwen finished. “And sometimes you catch him looking at you like he’s never seen you before, and not in the way he did when you first met.”

“Exactly!” Cimorene said. “It’s not--”

“Fair?” Morwen said drily.

“Well, yes,” said Cimorene. “We vanquished the evil wizards and took their power, and it’s about time for our happy ending.”

“That would be fair,” agreed Morwen. “But maybe it’s about time you stopped expecting one. If I were your fairy godmother, I’d do my best for you, but I’m not, and it wouldn’t work anyway.”

“It never does,” sighed Cimorene. “Mine was absolutely useless, and on vacation half the time anyway. So, what does work?”

“Time. And patience. You have to remember why you loved him in the first place. It wouldn’t hurt to go on a small adventure or two, just to spice things up a little. And you might want to tell him why you’re angry at him.” She doubted Mendanbar had any idea about it, and it was probably a little alarming for the man. Cimorene in a temper tended to be Cimorene with a sword. Although, that wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, come to think of it... “And stop worrying that he won’t like who you are now. You would have gotten here at some point, and it’s not that different from who you were sixteen years ago. You’ve always had a very decided character, my dear.”

“My parents would certainly agree with you,” Cimorene said, laughing. “They never could get me to be a better princess.”

“And no more they should,” Morwen retorted. “Even if they’d succeeded, they wouldn’t have liked the result. Now, would you come help me train the fireflowers before it rains? One more soaking on the ground and they’ll be good for nothing before winter, and I need another harvest for that tea for Kazul.”

“Of course,” said Cimorene, standing up. “May I have some cider to take home with me when we’re done?”

“Of course,” said Morwen. “Take it up on the roof and drink it with that king of yours. Just don’t try to count the stars. Complete waste of time.”

“Only my lucky ones,” Cimorene said, and she squeezed her hand as she walked by.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a New Year's Resolution fic for girlmarauders, written for the prompt,
> 
> This is just such a fun series to return to as an adult and realise how much the lessons from the books have informed my adult life. (Be polite to everyone you never know who is a dragon or an enchanted prince!) Mendanbar and Cimorene's love is something I'd love to be at the centre, but I'm also really interested in Morwen and Telemain's marriage, about how they're actually really good friends and have the same academic interests, and I'd really like to see Telemain being a supportive and loving and caring husband. 
> 
> I hope you like it!


End file.
